THE CATBIRD 



THOMAS NUTTALL 



THESE quaint and familiar songsters pass the winter in 

 the southern extremities of the United States and along 

 the coast of Mexico, from whence, as early as February, they 

 arrive in Georgia. About the middle of April they are first 

 seen in Pennsylvania, and at length leisurely approach New 

 England by the close of the first or the beginning of the 

 second week in May. 



The Catbirds continue their migration to Canada, where 

 they proceed into the fur countries as far as the forty-fifth 

 parallel, arriving on the banks of the Saskatchewan about the 

 close of May. Throughout this extent and west to the Missis- 

 sippi they likewise pass the period of incubation and rearing 

 their young. They remain in New England until about the 

 middle of October, at which time the young feed principally 

 upon various kinds of berries. 



The Catbird often tunes his cheerful song before the break 

 of day, hopping from bush to bush with great agility after his 

 insect food, while yet scarcely distinguishable amidst the 

 dusky shadows of the dawn. The notes of the different indi- 

 viduals vary considerably, so that sometimes his song in sweet- 

 ness and compass is scarcely at all inferior to that of the 

 Brown Thrasher. A quaintness, however, prevails in all his 

 efforts and his song is frequently made up of short and blended 

 imitations of other birds, given with great emphasis, melody 

 and variety of tone, and like the Nightingale disturbing the 



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